Agricultural soil treatment with



United States Patent AGRICULTURAL SOIL TREATMENT WITH GRANULATED FOAMEDRUBBER LATEX Chester Henry OBrien and Norman Lewis OBrien, Somerset,Mass.

No Drawing. Original No. 2,848,840, dated August 26,

1958, Serial No. 458,712, September 27, 1954. Application for reissueJanuary 2, 1959, Serial No. 785,108

2 Claims. (Cl. 47-1) This invention relates to granulated foamed rubberlatex and more particularly to the method and means of mixing andapplying granulated foamed rubber latex or other granulated materialhaving the characteristics thereof to the soil to stimulate plantgrowth.

One of the objects of the present invention is to apply granulatedfoamed rubber latex-like material to the soil to provide aeration of thesoil.

Another object of the present invention is to mix granulated foam rubberlatex with the soil as an additive to make the soil resilient andmoisture retaining.

And still another object of the present invention is to providegranulated foamed rubber latex which has been treated with a liquidfertilizer as an additive to the soil which will surround the roots ofplants and gradually release fertilizer to the roots as the granulatedsponge rubber latex releases moisture to the roots.

Other objects of this invention will be pointed out in part and becomeapparent in part in the following specification and claims.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No.384,518 filed October 6, 1953 (now abandoned) as to all matter common tothat application and the present invention.

The present invention differs from the prior art in that heretofore astrip or mattress of sponge rubber was laid on the surface of the soilor was buried in the soil. In either case an aggregation wasaccomplished between the sponge rubber and the soil. There was nointegral mixture of the soil with the sponge rubber. The sponge rubberstrip retained the water or liquid fertilizer in the same way that asponge used to moisten the glue on an envelope flap retains itsmoisture.

The present granulated foamed rubber latex mixes with the soil as anaddition to the soil and in so doing treats the soil so that a newcombination is produced. The result is a soft, aerated, moistureretaining soil conducive to stimulated plant growth.

The terms latex sponge rubber, foamed rubber latex, and sponge rubberlatex are synonymous and are used to describe the product produced bythe methods described in the book Latex in Industry by Noble,publishedby Rubber Age (N.Y.) 2nd edition, 1953, pages 603 through 613.

In proceeding with this invention, foamed rubber latex is granulated andmixed with soil as an additive. [Foamed] Granulated foamed rubber latexhas the physical characteristic of contracting when absorbing moistureand expanding when giving off moisture or drying. It is to be observedthat most material expands when absorbing water and contracts as itdries.

Thus it will be observed that when granulated foamed rubber latex ismixed with the soil, the soil does not become hard so as to allow waterto run off the surface Re. 24,820 Reissued May 3, 1960 5 rubber latexgradually gives off moisture to the soil,

thereby expanding, the soil is aerated. It is needless to enlarge onthis desirable condition to the soil.

The present invention teaches a method of and means for supplying plantroots with a soil mixed with granulated foamed rubber latex, so that theplant root system will greatly enlarge itself in area because the soilupon which the root system feeds is favorably soft, moist and aerated.Thus an improved degree of plant development is attained.

The soil mixed with granulated foamed rubber latex in proportion of 10%to 50% may be used as a new type of growing bed or as a mulch around thebase of plants and trees.

The present invention contemplates the use of liquid fertilizer whichmay be accomplished by allowing the granulated foamed rubber latex toabsorb the liquid fertilizer which is then treated so that thefertilizer remains in the [cells] cell walls as the liquid evaporates.As moisture penetrates the granulated foamed rubber latex and the soilwith which it is mixed, a certain proportion of the fertilizer isgradually released to the soil. In the same way insecticides of varioustypes may be carried by the granulated foamed rubber latex to preventthe ground from becoming contaminated by pests.

Having thus described our invention what we claim is:

1. Agricultural soil for the promotion of plant life in the soilcomprising [coarsely granulated] coarse granules of a material havingsubstantially the characteristics of foamed rubber latex mixed withnatural soil in proportion of 10% to 50% to enable the granulated foamedrubber latex-like material to exercise its inherent characteristics ofcontracting when wet to absorb surplus moisture in the soil and toexpand when drying out to give up the water stored in the granulatedfoamed rubber latex-like cells so as to aerate the soil and therebycondition the soil to absorb moisture when moisture is applied to thesoil and thereby prevent water run-0E.

2. Agricultural soil for the promotion of plant life in the soilcomprising [coarsely granulated] coarse granules of a material havingsubstantially the characteristics of foamed rubber latex mixed withnatural soil in a proportion to provide a desired water content in saidsoil, the foamed rubber latex-like material exercising its inherentcharacteristics of contracting when wet and expanding when drying out toaerate the soil and condition the soil to absorb moisture and preventwater run-off, a layer of soil applied above the coarsely granulatedfoamed rubber latex-like material to prevent sunlight from directlycontacting the coarsely granulated foamed rubber latex-like material andthereby prevent disintegration of said coarse- 1y granulated foamedrubber latex-like material.

References Cited in the file of this patent or the original patentUNITED STATES PATENTS 1,121,324 Black Dec. 15, 1914 1,140,437 Black May25, 1915 1,870,110 Hall Aug. 2, 1932 1,882,377 Whittelsey Oct. 11, 19321,931,248 Bryant Oct. 17, 1933 2,023,270 Fischer Dec. 3, 1935 2,203,274Anderson June 4, 1940 2,240,859 Rice May 6, 1941 2,342,588 Larkin Feb.22, 1944 2,351,256 Fischer June 13, 1944 2,720,725 Peerless Oct. 18,1955 (Other references on following page) FOREIGN PATENTS Article: "Foamand the Future," published October 839,944 '5 1950 in Modern Plastics(magazine), v01. 28, No. 2',

Germany May 2 9 pages 83,84, 85,86, 166, 167.

OTHER REFERENCES Tschirhart: Substitutes for Sand in Propagating Cut-Public'ation: 1950 Modern Plastics Encyclopedia and 5 tings, publishedJuly 25, 1952, in Southern Florist and Eng-ineers Handbook,"publishedbefore'August 8, I950, Nurseryman (Magazine), vol. 65, No. 18,pages 85, 86, by Plastics Catalogue Corporation (-N.Y.). Pages" 800 87.an'd801 are relied on.

